Pardon me for replying to a topic that is over a year old -- just wanted to add something that might be useful.

I share the concern about product activation rendering a product unusable. I cannot use PartitionMagic (which I paid for) on a new computer because the software will not function until it is activated. But the product cannot be activated because its manufacturer -- PowerQuest -- is no longer around (so the software tries to dial into a Web site that no longer exists), and the company that bought PartitionMagic -- Symantec -- does not provide support. When they acquired the software, they neglected to acquire the customer registration codes already in existence. (Their customer service reps were useless. One of many reasons I stay away from Symantec software, but that's a different story.)

Fookes Software, which makes Aid4Mail, has this on their FAQs page (Softworkz is the company that handles activation for Fookes):
"Q. Will Aid4Mail activations still be possible if softWORKZ or Fookes Software suspends service?""A. If softWORKZ or Fookes Software suspends service, customers will be able to download [either] a patch that bypasses the activation system or a special version of Aid4Mail that does not use any activation system."

Now, I ended up using Emailchemy (from Weird Kid Software) instead of Aid4Mail to convert my Eudora messages to a standard mbox format that PocoMail can read. I made that choice largely because Aid4Mail requires activation not just once, but every single month. That is, the program "phones home" once a month. I think that is excessive, and I don't like being treated like a potential thief, so I went with the other program.

However, I did appreciate the reassurance that if Fookes Software goes out of business, they will first provide customers with a way to bypass the activation step so that the software that customers paid for remains usable. That seems like a relatively simple and straightforward way to handle the main concern ("will my product stop working or be un-installable if you guys go away?").

I'll only paste in what Slaven said earlier in this thread:
"You keep referring to PocoMail not working 5 years from now if we go out of business: the fact is that PocoMail WILL work indefinitely, with or without our servers responding to its requests."

In other words, unlike Fookes software, Pocomail doesn't depend on the developer to stand their word and produce patch or special version. Even with very trustworthy developer, it might happen that they will not get a chance to stand their word, for reasons ranging from catastrophic ones to company purchased by investor who will then promptly discontinue some of the products, not bothering about the word put out by previous company owner. (Actually I don't believe it might happen to Fookes Software, I speak about that "user protection model" in general.)

Tomas wrote:I'll only paste in what Slaven said earlier in this thread: "You keep referring to PocoMail not working 5 years from now if we go out of business: the fact is that PocoMail WILL work indefinitely, with or without our servers responding to its requests."

Yes, I saw that. But I also noticed that another user said that the unlicensed software inserts the www.pocosystems.com URL into every message. I would not like that and would find it intrusive and unnecessary in software I had legitimately purchased. So I tossed the Fookes Software info out there as another alternative, since it was an option that had not been mentioned.

Catherine wrote:Yes, I saw that. But I also noticed that another user said that the unlicensed software inserts the www.pocosystems.com URL into every message. I would not like that and would find it intrusive and unnecessary in software I had legitimately purchased.

It's true that that URL is inserted into every message during the trial.However once purchased, it's gone or you can replace it with your own.

So I tossed the Fookes Software info out there as another alternative, since it was an option that had not been mentioned.

That's more intrusive, when it's phoning home.Haven't seen that yet here with Mailbag Assistant, although it does check for updates and news whenever I use it.